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Anheuser Busch, the Walt Disney Company's ABC, and Whole Foods Market are among more than 30 New York City businesses that have pledged to halve the amount of waste they send to landfills by June 2016. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio aims to reduce the city's waste output by 90% by 2030.

New York cements its position as a national renewable energy leader today with a New York Public Service Commission (PSC) order requiring that 50 percent of the state's electricity must from clean, renewable sources like solar and wind power by 2030.

New York City's Department of Parks & Recreation has launched a Street Tree Map that allows users to not only learn about the city's different tree species, but also about the ecological and economic benefits they offer to the city. Using figures laid out by the U.S. Forest Service, the city, along with a team of 2,300 volunteers, completed a citywide tree census and used the data to calculate the estimated annual benefit in dollars trees provide to New York City.

Mayor Bill de Blasio banned the possession, sale, or provision of polystyrene-based foam containers and loose fill packaging in New York City. The measure will go into effect on July 1, 2015.

New York City's sustainable programs have helped it become one of the most environmentally friendly cities in the U.S., writes Jonathan Pappas. Some reasons behind this have to do with the construction industry. For instance, the city's PlaNYC initiative includes a "local energy conservation construction code which holds all new construction and renovations to the most current energy efficiency standards." In addition, replacing older heating units with ones that use cleaner fuel is a priority

Existing buildings in New York will now face higher standards for the emissions of greenhouse gases by upgrading water heaters, boilers and roofs, among other changes. The goal is to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the city by 7% by 2035.

The New York State Public Service Commission has approved a $7.6 billion clean-energy subsidy for the Ginna, FitzPatrick and Nine Mile Point 1 and 2 nuclear power plants as part of the state's move to more sustainable energy. Environmental groups protested the grants, saying the production and transport of nuclear fuel release a great deal of carbon into the air.

A total of 34 companies signed the New York Declaration on Forests this week at the United Nations Climate Summit in New York.

ExxonMobil is under investigation by the New York attorney general for possibly lying about the risks of climate change, the New York Times reports.

Sixteen hotels, including the Waldorf and Pierre, have joined the NYC Carbon Challenge -- a city program aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 30% over the next decade.

The Governors of California, New York, and Washington have formed the United States Climate Alliance-a bipartisan coalition of nine states committed to upholding the Paris Agreement despite President Trump's decision to end U.S. participation. The nine states - California, New York, Massachusetts, Washington, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Oregon, and Hawaii - represent nearly a third of U.S. annual GDP.

A group of 24 companies - including Apple, Facebook, Google, HPE, Ingersoll Rand, Johnson Controls, Microsoft, Tiffany & Co, Unilever, and VF Corporation - signed a statement urging President Trump to "keep the United States in the Paris Agreement on climate change for the good of the U.S. economy." The statement was featured as a full-page advertisement in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and New York Post.

Announced today at Climate Week NYC 2017 in New York, global financial institutions Citi and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have joined The Climate Group's RE100 campaign with CDP, committing to source 100% renewable power across their global operations by 2020. Other companies joining the RE100 initiative are one of the fastest-growing beverage companies, Califia Farms, and UK investment management company Jupiter Asset Management. The announcements follow news last week that The Estée Lauder Companies, Kellogg Company, DBS Bank and Clif Bar & Company have also joined RE100. 110 of the world's most influential companies are now generating demand for over 150 TWh renewable energy annually - more than enough to power New York State.

Under a new order from the state's Public Service Commission, utility companies will soon be barred from owning "distributed" power systems-that means rooftop solar, small wind turbines, and basically anything else that isn't a big power plant. "By restricting utilities from owning local power generation and other energy resources, customers will benefit from a more competitive market, with utilities working and partnering with other companies and service providers," the commission said in a statement.

The White House last week outlined plans to get the US offshore wind industry off the ground. The White House has awarded Maine, Rhode Island, New York and Massachusetts each a grant of $600,000 to support offshore wind development. It has also established an interagency group in support of offshore wind. As part of that effort, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management plans to offer areas off the coasts of North Carolina and New Jersey. GovTech.com (10/2) 

Thirty-one New York City businesses, including ABC Disney, Whole Foods and Anheuser-Busch, have committed to divert at least 50 percent of their waste from landfill and incineration by mid-June, as part of mayor Bill de Blasio's Zero Waste Challenge.

South Korea has been using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and a 'pay-as-you-waste' system to help cut back on food waste. Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the Mayor's Zero Waste Challenge as part of the city's plan to send zero waste to landfill by 2030. Thirty-one businesses, including Disney, Anheuser-Busch, Citi Field, Etsy, Whole Foods, and more, have committed to divert at least 50 percent of their waste from landfill and incineration.

NEW DELHI - Violent protests broke out in the southern state of Karnataka on Monday after the Indian Supreme Court ordered the state to release water to the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu, the latest chapter in a longstanding dispute.

Using fracking wastewater to de-ice roads in New York City will likely soon be illegal, following a City Council vote to ban the practice. Fracking wastewater has a high brine content, which makes it useful in salinating roads icy roads. The waste also contains benzene, which the EPA says is a human carcinogen.

Plastic Soup Foundation (PSF), a Dutch nonprofit, and New York-based Parley for the Oceans announced Tuesday a partnership to tackle the issue of microfiber pollution and to create a global alliance of companies, governments, NGOs and scientists. Microfibers - tiny, often synthetic threads shed from laundry, industrial clothing manufacturing and fishing nets - have been found in alarming numbers in recent studies of microplastic pollution.